How safe is domain privacy?

[Datalife]

Hey all,

Just only got to know a few things about domain privacy. I'm now wondering about how safe exactly is domain privacy to our domains. It seems if you use a domain privacy service and then there arises a trademark or ownership issue, your domains could be at risk because according to ICANN ruling, it seems the owner appearing in the whois is the legal registrant for the domain, in which most cases will be the domain privacy companies name in place of yours.

I recently got this reply from a domain registrar that has a privacy service abit different...your name shows as the registrant, only the address and contact details are showing as the domain privacy company's. I asked them a few things, and this was their reply (which is BTW a good example of cust service)..Their reply was prompt and they took the trouble to reply like this:

Hello,

Yes, if the domain company is listed as the registrant, then you are no
longer considered the legal owner of the domain. If you look at the
wording in the Service Agreements of various proxy services, you are
merely given a license to use the domain.

This does become an issue if an ownership dispute is filed against your
domain name (usually because it infringes on someone's
copyright/trademark), or if for some reason, you cannot remove the proxy service if
you've lost access to that account. (We have had a customer try to
transfer a few domains to us, but was unable to because her domains had a
proxy service and she was not able to turn it off since she had some sort
of problem with her proxy service account.)

By the way, while you can remove the proxy service, it may take a day
or more for the Whois database to update since the Whois is only updated
once per day.

Basically, the issue has to do with how much do you trust the proxy
service to hide your contact information reliably, even under legal
pressure? Right now, there is no set standard/protocol for proxy services,
and there's a greater risk of losing your domains if any accounts
associated with your proxy service account (email addresses, for example) are
hijacked or accessed without your permission since your name will not
appear in the Whois database.

It is a big issue simply because you can lose the ownership of your
domain if something goes wrong. In the end, though, it is really up to
you if you want to use a proxy service or not. At least you know the
advantages and dis-advantages of the service before making a decision.

Best Regards,
******* Staff

I think domain privacy is a good thing, I think nobody really wants to have their name shown up for anyone in the world to see...but it seems domain privacy got its drawbacks too. Anyway, this registrar has a privacy that works like this:

<Your Name here,>
<The Companies Contact details,>


Most other registrar have the privacy like this:

<The Company Name (replacing yours)>
<The Companies Contact details,>


I do notice most big websites do not have domain privacy or masking feature...(you can see the whois details of the registrant anytime), maybe there was a big site with this privacy in place..( saw one the other day) but they are few and far between. So it appears there are legal issues that could happen with domain privacy or masking....Anyone care to comment?

 

[stscac]

Use a legitimate domain privacy provider like DNOA.

The signup is down for a few days, but it will be back up shortly.

-Steve

 

[Dave_Z]

Definitely there can be legal issues using privacy services. That's why there
are legal fine prints drawing the lines what both you and the provider can and
can't do if you use it.

Most if not all registrars will reveal the actual contact details upon receipt of
notice from legal enforcement agencies or counsel for an upcoming dispute. It
does state in the provider's legal fine prints they'll do so and probably a whole
lot more.

That's why it's important to read the fine print, ask questions, etc. before you
consider signing up for such. Know your rights, and don't use it if you do not
agree with the terms.

Not all parties need privacy services, especially those who can afford putting
in another set of complete accurate contact details.

 

[Datalife]

Thanks Dave, I never thought before about reading the fine print, I thought domain privacy was a godsend.

Almost any domain with a running site that I check the whois, does not have a domain privacy service masking the domain in question. You could see all the details of the registrant. And I used to wonder why those people never put on a privacy shield over their domain.

Now I guess its because the owners dont want any potential hassles to happen, which could happen, not that it would happen....

But at least I know better now to decide.